TiVo is due to launch in Australia through a partnership with Seven Media Group. All the digital channels of the free-to-air television networks in Australia will be available through the new platform, which will provide the usual digital video recording
Canadian company Espial, which provides browser based clients and middleware for internet protocol television services, is to acquire California based video server and middleware company Kasenna in a stock deal worth just $6.5 million. Over $70 million has been invested
The chief executive of the communications regulator in the United Kingdom has underlined the importance of developing next generation high-speed broadband networks. Ed Richards said that Ofcom favoured a regulatory environment that allows and encourages operators to make risky investments
Teletext Extra is a new interactive service available for Freeview digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom. It has been launched by Teletext and InView Interactive in response to the technical limitations of existing digital text services. Based on new
The Kangaroo joint video venture between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 has been referred to the Competition Commission. It follows complaints to the Office of Fair Trading from other providers including Sky and Virgin Media. The Competition Commission will
American cable television operators have launched a combined initiative to offer targeted interactive television advertising under the name Canoe Ventures, but could face concerns from consumers over the implications for privacy. The greater challenge is more likely to be one
Sony is aiming to become the leading global provider of networked consumer electronics and entertainment. The company will make 90% of its electronics products network-enabled and wireless capable, rolling out video services across its key product lines, starting this summer
A leading advocate of the DVB-MHP platform for interactive television has said that claims by promoters of the rival MHEG-5 standard are "absurd and outdated". He said that MHEG-5 is an old technology that is "not designed for next generation
The military regime in Fiji has made a formal complaint to Microsoft over the use of the name Fiji in connection with its products. A Microsoft project currently codenamed Fiji aims to update its media centre offering to enhance support
The BBC has unveiled the latest version of its iPlayer online media service which now includes radio and television in a single interface. The size of the video window has also been increased by more than 50% and the audio
Wimbledon will once again be interactive this year on the BBC, with the addition of live streams on the web and highlights available through the BBC iPlayer. DirecTV is also doubling up with ESPN to provide interactive Wimbledon coverage. Viewing
Young American adults viewed nearly five hours of online video each in April. The latest figures from online measurement company comScore showed that almost 11 billion online videos were viewed during the month, with YouTube accounting for more than 4
The number of subscribers to IPTV services in North America quadrupled last year, but still reached only 1.2 million homes. These mainly seem to be net additions to the pay-television market, rather than at the expense of satellite, which gained
Amino is launching the first 100% digital high-definition set-top box. It is on show at the NXTcomm conference in Las Vegas. With an HDMI digital socket and no analogue outputs it is cheaper to produce and simpler to install. Amino
Microsoft is buying interactive television company Navic Networks to gain an addressable advertising system. Navic Networks is a pioneer of interactive television and has developed an advertising management system known as Admira. Meanwhile Microsoft says its Mediaroom platform is now
Loss-making online television pioneers JumpTV and NeuLion are planning to merge. This will create a single operation covering a range of sports, international and religious channels, delivered on the web and to set-top boxes. The transaction is expected to be
Britain risks its economic competitiveness as a result of lack of investment in next generation networks, but there is no clear business case to build new broadband infrastructure. That was the message from a conference of the self-appointed industry advisory
The BBC is planning to provide a permanent web page for every episode of every programme it has ever broadcast. The ambitious proposal was outlined by Jana Bennett, the director of BBC Vision at the Banff World Television Festival in
Free-to-air broadcasters will no longer have to pay patent licence fees for using MHP interactive television middleware. The fees set by the patent pool administrator Via Licensing have been controversial and have partly accounted for the lack of widespread adoption
Win Multimedia in Thailand has selected Digisoft TV, based in Ireland, to provide its service delivery platform and middleware for IPTV services in the Thai and Chinese markets. Win Media is a subsidiary of Win Win Net Corporation based in
